Apr 30 The Search For Self-Worth

'Sometimes the hardest part of the journey is believing you're worthy of the trip.'

Yes, there’s always areas of our mental, spiritual, physical and emotional selves that we are working on improving, but they shouldn't compromise our feelings of self-worth.

'Based on how you see yourself you will conclude what your worth is and how valuable you are.'

Self-worth often takes a journey of self-discovery and reflection to find, and sometimes it may be buried under years of hurt and criticism. It could take a while before you find it, but keep searching, don’t worry, it’ll be there.

'Your value doesn't decrease based on someone's inability to see your worth.'

It’s a word that’s often tied in with self-confidence and self-love. They’re almost a trio of sorts, and I think that they’re all interwoven together in our core identity. It would be difficult to have one without the others, and I believe that it’s important to look after all three areas.

‘I went from zero to my own here.’ -Roar, Katy Perry

Last year I came to realise that I often lacked confidence in my ability to achieve and complete things. Over the past few years I have been faced with many challenges, exams and assessments, and usually wasn’t very confident beforehand that I would pass and be successful.

Whenever I approached another bridge my head would fill up with self doubt, and I would question whether I was even supposed to be there. I’ve felt like an imposter in my own life. I didn’t think it wasn’t a question of confidence, but a question of how I see myself. I then started focusing on exploring my self-worth, and how it affected my approach to challenges.

Self-worth is defined as 'the sense of one's own value or worth as a person.'

Tips to build self-worth:

Stop comparing yourself to others

Challenge your critical inner voice

Acknowledge that imperfection is something all humans share

Practice self-compassion towards yourself and your experiences

Take part in activities that are meaningful to you

Act in line with your values and ethics

I used to wonder why I let my inner critic be in charge for so long. I think it may have been because it was easier to take failure when I didn't think I had a shot. It's a lot harder to give a challenge everything you have, and then not be successful.

I’ve now decided that I'm not really living as my true self, if I don't hit every challenge with all the strength I have. Then if I don't succeed I have the assurance that I gave it my best. To me that’s an indicator that I’ve found my self-worth, and have confidence in who I am as a person. I understand my strengths and weaknesses, and am happy with who I am.

"I think self love is the most important kind of love. With it you don't have to rely on anyone else to validate you as a person, and it's the kind of love that when nurtured, allows you to blossom in all areas of your life.” - Kate Campbell